Sharpener for safety razor blades, and method



Sept.,3, 1968 w. s. WOODWARD 3,399,495 I SHARPENER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES. AND METHUD Filed May 27, 1965 INVENTOR WALTER S. WOODWARD zga mew ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,399,495 SHARPENER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES, AND METHOD Walter S. Woodward, Oakland, Calif. (37747A Argyle Road, Fremont, Calif. 94536) Filed May 27, 1965, Ser. No. 459,283 7 Claims. (Cl. 51-85) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A razor blade sharpener provided with means for admilting a wafer-type razor blade endwise into said sharpener, while said blade is on the head of a razor, and a pair of sharpening means on said sharpener actuatable by reciprocable movement of said head for alternately engaging the blade along is cutting edges to sharpen said edges, and which head with the blade in engagement therewith is removable from said sharpener.

Conventional razors using blades of the above type have a straight handle and a cross head at one end that includes a central rib extending at a right angle to the handle, the latter projecting from a central point along the rib. A pair of blade retaining plates parallel with said rib and at opposite sides thereof are operatively connected with the handle, as is the rib, for swinging said plates outwardly to an open position, and for moving said rib axially outwardly relative to the handle upon rotating the handle relative to said plates and rib, in one direction. This movement is to enable a centrally slotted conventional double edged wafer-type blade to be positioned between said plates with the rib projecting through said slot, or to remove a blade from the razor. Upon rotation of the handle in the opposite direction, said plates will swing from said open position to a blade holding position in which they are over the blade, and the ribs will be retracted to a position in which its outer edge is between said plates.

The present sharpener includes a slide member adapted to be engaged by the head of a safety razor of the above type when the latter is in an open position, as described, rotary sharpening means is operatively connected with said slide member for alternate engagement of opposite sides of the blade along each of its cutting edges upon r ciprocation of said head and slide member relatively. The reciprocation is elfected by holding the sharpener in one hand and the handle of the razor with the other hand.

One object of the invention is the provision of a sharpener of the above character, that enables the user to quickly sharpen the blade during a short interval in the shaving operation without removing it from the razor.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a blade sharpener that is economical to make, and that is more reliable and trouble-free than heretofore, and that performs a sharpening operation more efiiciently than heretofore.

An additional object is the provision of a sharpener that is compact, light in weight, and that may readily be packed and carried without fear of injury thereto.

Other objects and advantages appear in the following description and in the drawings.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the sharpener, with one portion broken away and in cross section, the position of the razor blade and handle of the razor being indicated in dot-dash line.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the sharpener with the head portion of the razor indicated in sharpening position, while the dot-dash lines at the left end of the figure indicates the position of the head and blade for inserting the blade into the sharpener.

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FIG. 3 is a bottom plane view of the sharpener with the razor or blade.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along line 44 of FIG. 2, the head of the razor being in sharpening position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along line 55 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

In the following description the words rear, rearwardly, forward and forwardly and words of similar connotation will arbitrarily be used with reference to the feed end of the device, which is the left hand end in FIGS. 13, said feed end being the rear end while the opposite end is the front or forward end.

The body 1 of the device, FIGS. l-3 is horizontally elongated and extends substantially the full length of the device and is of uniform thickness from end to end. The left or rear end portion 2 (FIG. 3) of the device is wider than the remainder, and the intermediate portion 3 between rear and front ends is of less width than'the rear end portion, but of greater width than the forward end portion 4. The side edges of portions 2, 3 and 4 respectively are preferably parallel.

The rear and intermediate portions of body 1 are separated by a slot 5 (FIG. 2) that opens outwardly of the rear end of the body and which slot opens laterally outwardly of the body, but terminates at a point 6 (FIG. 3) adjacent to the juncture between portions 3, 4. This slot may almost be termed a slit, since it is approximately equal to the thickness of a wafer-type razor blade, and the width of portion 3 is less than the width of such blade so that the opposite edges of the blade will project outwardly of the opposite sides of portion 3 when a blade is centered relative to slot 5 with the blade extending longitudinally of the body. Such a blade, however, may slide in said slot 5.

The part of the portions 2, 3 above slot 5 may be designated 7 and the part below the slot may be designated 8 (FIGS. 2, 4).

The portions 7, 8 of body 1 are respectively formed with vertical registering slots 9, 10 (FIG. 4) centrally of the width of the body and extending longitudinally thereof from its rear end for approximately the same distance as slot 5.

The sides of slot 10 in the lower part 8 of portions 2, 3 may be rabbeted out along the lower side of the slot to form a horizontal shoulder or seat 13 (FIG. 4) facing downwardly along opposite sides of the slot 10, the purpose of which will appear later on.

The slots 9, 10 are intended to receive the central vertical rib 14 (FIG. 4) that is on the head of a conventional razor when the blade retaining side plates 15 thereof a e swung to open position and the razor blade 16 is in 'SlOi. 5 and said rib is extended through the central slot 17 in the blade.

A guide element 18 (FIGS. 2, 3, 5) is below and secured to the forward end portion 4, and is in the form of a plate provided with an upstanding flange 19 (FIG. 2) extending over the rear end of the body 1. This guide member is rigid with body 1, being secured thereto by any suitable means, Such as screws 20 (FIG. 3), and it functions as a guide for a slide member 23 that extends longitudinally of body 1 over the upper side of the latter, and it also connects the slide member with the body 1 for reciprocal movement of said member longitudinally of said body.

Slide member 23 is in the form of a strip 24 of material that is preferably slightly wider than the body 1, including the rear end portion 2 of the latter. The forward end of said strip 24 is formed with a downwardly projecting, horizontally opposed, side plates 25 (FIGS. 1, 2, )v that extend over and are spaced from the opposite outer longitudinally extending edges of forward end portion 4 of body 1. Vertical marginal flange portions 26 on the slide member project slightly toward said forward end portion of the body 1 from the vertical edges of each side plate 25 (FIG. 1) and the lower horizontal flanges 27 (FIG. 5) extend below the longitudinally extending marginal portions of guide element 18 (FIG. 5) leaving a space 28 between the lower end of each vertical flange 26 and each flange 27, into which space the longitudinally extending marginal portions on guide element 18 is slidably extend. Thus the slide member may slide back and forth relative to the body 1 and guide element 18, but will be held in position over body 1 by the flanges 26, 27.

The rear end of the strip portion 24 of the slide member 23 will terminate approximately even with the rear end of body 1 when the slide member 23 is at the left end of its movement, as seen in FIGS. l-3, and supported on the rear end portion of said strip portion 24 is an arm 29 (FIG. 2) centrally positioned over the slot 9 that, in turn, is to receive rib 14 of the razor head. Said arm extends longitudinally of the slide member 23 and is pivotally connected with said slide member at a point intermediate the ends of said arm by a horizontal pivot 30, the said slide member 23 being formed with spaced raised portions for the ends of said pivot.

The rear end of said arm is provided with a rear, vertically downwardly projecting stop pin 33 that extends vertically downwardly into slot 9 and substantially to a point even with seat 13 in slot (FIG. 2).

The forward end portion 34 of arm 29 is elevated a substantial distance above the strip portion 24 of the slide member 23 and is yieldably held in said elevated position by a spring 35 reacting between the strip 24 and the forward end portion of said arm. Upon depressing the forward end of the arm 29, the stop pin 33 will be elevated out of slot 9.

Also carried on the strip portion 24 of the slide member is a forward stop pin 36 that is rigid with said portion 24 and that extends downwardly through slots 9, and into slot 10, there being a. generally horseshoe shaped block 37 secured to the lower end of said stop pin within slot 10 and the arms of said block are slidably seated on seats 13. Thus pin 36 and block 37 also function to hold the slide strip 24 and body 1 together as well as permitting the slide member 23 to slide longitudinally of the body 1 and guiding the slide member during said sliding movement.

The space betweenthe rear and forward stop pins 33, 36 is only slightly greater than the horizontal length of the rib 14 on the razor head.

A finger actuatable sliding catch 38 on the rear end of the slide member 23 is adapted to slidably fit in an upwardly opening groove 39 that is formed in the upper side of the slide member 23, and in which groove the rear end portion of arm 29 is also adapted to be received. This catch'is formed with a slot 40 (FIG. 1) extending longitudinally of the guide member for a pin 41 that secures the catch 38 to said slide member. The forward end ofv said catch has a lip 42 (FIG. 2) that is adapted to extend over the rear end of arm 29 when the latter is in groove 39. Upon moving catch 38 reawardly the rear end of arm 29 is free for actuation thereof to move the rear stop pin 33 out of slot 9, but when the lip 42 is over the rear end of the arm 29 the stop pin 33 will 'be held in slot 9. A raised rear end portion 43 on catch38 is to facilitate movement of the catch by the finger of a hand.

At each opposite side of body 1 extendng alongside and parallel with the side edges of portion 3, 4 of said body and spaced therefrom but within the confines of the downwardly projected confines of the outlines of the strip portion 24 of slide member 23 is a pair of vertically spaced horizontally extending sharpening rollers. The pair of rollers at one side of the body are designated 46, 47

. (FIGS. 2, 6). and the pair atthe opposite side are respectively designated 48, 49. The rollers 46, 48 are the uppermost rollers of each pair.

These pairs of rollers are rotatably supported at their forward ends in bearings50 that are on opposite ends of a rocking arm 53 (FIG. 6) the latter extending through a transverse slot 54 formed in the rear end of body 1 and being centrally pivotally supported at' 55 for vertical rocking of the pairs of rollers about said pivot.

It is to be understood that words horizontal and vertical and other words denoting directions are used with reference to the drawings, since the device itself may be held at any desired angle.

Intermediate opposite ends of the rollers, and at a point alongside the rear end of the forward portion 4 of the body another pair of bearings 56 (FIG. 1) for each pair of rollers is provided, there being a centrally pivoted arm 57 corresponding to arm 53 connecting the pair of bearings for each pair of rollers, and extending through a transverse slot 58. The forward ends of said rollers may rotatably bear against the forward end flange 19 while adjacent to the forward side of each bearing 56 each roller is formed with an annular outwardly opening groove in which a collar 59 is secured. Thus rollers 46-49 are held against axial movement while rotatable in said bearings.

The opposite side plates 25 that are carried on the forward end of the slide member 23 are oppositely diagonally slotted, one plate, or the near one in FIG. 2 being formed with a diagonally extending downwardly inclined slot 62 While the plate at the opposite side has a diagonally extending upwardly inclined slot 63. Thus the forward end of slot 62 is lowermost while the forward end of slot 63 is uppermost.

A block 64 is positioned adjacent to the inner side of each plate 25 between the flanges 26 thereon and between collars 59 and rear flanges 26. Each block 64 has a pin 65 projecting laterally from the side thereof that faces the adjacent side plate 25, one pin 65 projecting into slot 62 and the other pin 65 projecting into slot 63. The pair of rollers 46, 47 rotatably extend through one of said blocks 64 and rollers 48, 49 rotatably extend through the other of said blocks.

The portions 66 of rollers 46-49 that extend between collars 59 and the rear end flange 19 are respectively formed with a spirally extending outwardly opening groove 67 and projections 67' on each block 64 extend into the spiral groove in each roller.

From the foregoing it will be seen that upon movement of the slide member 23 in one direction or the other, the arms 53, 57 will rock about their central axis for moving one pair of sharpening rollers upwardly and the other pair downwardly and atthe same time the rollers of each pair will be rotated oppositely. The directions of rotation of the rollers will be reversed upon a reversal in the direction of movement of the slide member. 7

In operation, when the user wishes to sharpen the blade in the razor, the razor handle is rotated to move the blade retaining plates 15 upwardly to fully open position exposing the blade 16. One end of the blade in conventional razors normally projects slightly from the ends of the head, and the blade is tilted to dotted line position 68 (FIG. 1 at left end) by merely pressing the thumb downwardly against the left end of the blade, so that the elevated end of the blade may readily be slipped endwise into the open end of slot 5. Preferably the rear end 69 of the upper portion 7 of body 1 projects beyond the rear end 70 of the lower portion 8 and the upper rear surface of said lower portion is rounded, as at 71 to facilitate movement of the blade into the slot 5. The lower end of the rear stop pin 33 does not extend across slot 5, hence does not interfere with movement of the blade 16 into said slot, being elevated by arm 29.

s As the user manually holding the razor moves the razor and blade longitudinally of the body 1 toward the forward end of the latter, the rib 14 on the head will be moved upwardly into slots 9, to a position between the stop pins, although the thumb of the hand may press the end 34 of arm 29 downwardly to raise the pin 33 and to permit the head of the razor to engage and slide along the lower side of the end portions 2, 3 of the body until the rib 14 is between said pin. The catch 38 should then be actuated to hold the arm 29 and pin 33 against upward movement.

When the razor head and blade are in sharpening position, the edges of the blades are between the rollers of each pair. In FIG. 4 it is seen that the lower side of blade 11 along one of its edges is in engagement with the upper surface of the lower roller 47 while the upper surface of the blade 16 at the opposite side of the device is against the lower surface of the upper roller 48. Upon movement of the razor head and blade toward the rear end of the body 23 the rotation of the blade engaging surfaces of rollers 47, 49 will be outward relative to the device at their lines of engagement with the blade 16 to properly strop or sharpen the blades, but upon a reverse movement of the razor head, and slide member the roller will be rocked and the lower surface of upper roller 46 will engage the upper surface of blade 16 along the edge that had previously been lowered to roller 47, while the upper surface of lower roller 49 will engage the blade along the opposite edge thereof. The sharpening roller that is in engagement with the blade will always move outwardly of the device from the line of engagement with the blade.

Normally in a sharpening movement the thumb of the hand may engage the rear end of the device and the forefinger or middle finger of the same hand may engage the opposite end, with the handle projecting downwardly below such end for easy gripping by the other hand of the user.

After the sharpening operation is concluded, the catch 38 is released from arm 29 and the portion 34 of arm 29 is moved downwardly to elevate the rear stop pin 33 and the razor is quickly separated from the sharpener. The handle of the razor may then be rotated to swing the holding plates back to blade holding position and the shaving operation may be continued. At no time is the blade separated from the razor, nor is the blade flipped back and forth or moved in a manner that could injure it or the sharpening means.

The portions of the rollers that engage the blade may be coated with an abrasive or they may be of abrasive or polishing material, or of metal. Inasmuch as the dullness of cutting edges is to a great extent the result of infinitesimal breaks along said edges, a stropping action against the outer surface of smooth metal itself will sharpen the blade, by straightening distorted portions of the cutting edges.

It is to be understood that modifications and variations of said blade and on a line centrally between said two opbe made without departing from the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. The method of sharpening a wafer-type razor blade positioned in the head of a conventional safety razor having parallel cutting edges along two of the opposite edges of said blade, and a central slot spaced within the outline of said blade and on a line centrally between said two opposite edges for receiving a projection on the head of a razor when said blade is on the latter for shaving, and which head has a handle rigid therewith projecting from the side of said head opposite to said projection, the steps comprising:

(a) positioning said blade while said projection is in said slot in a position with each of said two opposite edges between a pair of spaced sharpening surfaces;

(b) reciprocating said blade in a direction longitudinally of said edges by manual reciprocation of said handle in said direction while said projection is within said slot;

(0) alternately moving a different surface of each pair thereof against one of the opposite sides of said blade along each of said cutting edges during each of said reciprocable movement of said blade; and

(d) during such engagement of said surfaces with said blade, moving the surfaces in such engagement outwardly of said :blade relative to said slot and said cutting edges.

2. A sharpening device for sharpening the two opposite parallel cutting edges of a wafer-type razor blade having a central slot with closed ends spaced within the outline of said blade and extending along a line centrally between said edges, in which slot is positioned an elongated rib on and projecting outwardly of one side of a conventional head of a razor and which head has a handle projecting from the side of said head opposite to said handle, the combination of:

(a) an elongated body including means for admitting said blade and said rib into said body while said rib is in said slot with said handle projecting from said rib and body, and said body further including means for supporting said blade, while the rib is in said slot, and with said cutting edges projecting from two opposite sides of said body, for reciprocable movement of said blade within said body in a direction longitudinally of said cutting edges upon manual reciprocable movement of said handle generally in said direction;

(b) a pair of spaced elongated sharpening means parallel with said edges at each of said two opposite sides of said body and at opposite sides of said blade along said edges when said blade is in the aforesaid position;

(0) supporting means supporting said pairs of sharpening means for simultaneous generally oscillatory movement in opposite directions for alternately engaging one of the sharpening means of each pair with opposite sides of said blade along said cutting edges in sharpening relation thereto;

(d) reciprocable means supported on said body for reciprocable movement longitudinally of the latter connected with said pairs of sharpening means for effecting said generally oscillatory movement of the latter upon such reciprocable movement of said re ciprocable means;

(e) and means for connecting said reciprocable means with said rib when said blade is in said position on said body for reciprocating such blade with said reciprocable means by said reciprocable movement of said handle and ribs whereby the cutting edges of said blade will engage said sharpening means for sharpening thereof all without removing said blade from said head.

3. In the combination as defined in claim 2:

(f) said sharpening means each being a roller having a sharpening surface, and said rollers being rotatab-ly supported on said supporting means for rotation about their respective axes;

(g) engaging means respectively on each of said rollers and on said reciprocable means for rotating said roller during reciprocable movement of said reciprocable means and blade relative to said rollers.

4. A sharpener for use with a safety razor having a head with a projection thereon, and said head being provided with a handle extending from one side thereof and a wafer-type blade having parallel cutting edges along two opposite edges thereof and a central opening through which said projection removably extends for positioning said blade centrally on said head, and the latter including blade retaining wings hingedly connected therewith for swinging oppositely outwardly from blade holding positions over and against the said blade to blade removing positions fully exposing the side of said blade opposite to said head for movement of said blade outwardly of said projection and head, comprising:

(a) an elongated body having a projection receiving (b) blade guiding and retaining means on said body engageable with said projection for reciprocable movement therewith relative to said body for reciprocating said blade longitudinally of said cutting edges when said projection is in said slot and in the central opening in said blade, said body including means thereon supporting said blade for said reciprocable movement thereof;

(c') a pair of spaced elongated, parallel sharpening elements supported on said body at each of said opposite sides thereof between which each of said cutting edges is adapted to extend when said blade is held on said body for said recipr'ocable movement with said projection;

(d) actuating means operably connected with said projection and with said pairs of sharpening elements for moving the sharpening elements of each pair alternately against opposite sides of such blade in sharpening relation to each of said cutting edges upon such reciprocable movement of said projection when the latter is in said slot with said cutting edges on said blade between the sharpening elements of each pair thereof.

5. In a sharpener as defined in claim 4:

(c) said sharpening elements being rollers having parallel axes of rotation extending longitudinally of said 6. In a sharpener as defined in claim 4: i

(e) the overall width of the portion of said device for at least the distance of travel of said blade in its said reciprocatory movement being less than the space between said wings on said head when the latter are in said blade removing positions.

I 7. In a sharpener as defined in claim 4:

(c) said body being formed with a blade receiving slot disposed transversely of the slot for said projection, and said means supporting said blade for said reciprocable movement thereof being the portion thereof that is adjacent to said head when said projection is in said projection receiving slot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,540,078 6/1925 Long 51-158 1,795,654 3/1931 Luebben 51-41 1,945,201 1/1934 Periolat 51-158 2,008,025 7/ 1935 Luxmore 51-158 2,064,836 12/1936 Johnston 51-41 2,581,214 1/1952 Stegner 51-86 LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner. 

